Monday, October 08, 2007

Maxime Bernier Exaggerates 'Safety' In Afghanistan

"The territory is more secure now today, here in Kandahar than it was a year ago,"Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier October - 2007

"The security situation in Afghanistan is assessed by most analysts as having deteriorated at a constant rate through 2007,"UN Department of Safety and Security August - 2007

Canada's new Foreign Affairs Minister, Maxime Bernier, is going out of his way to try and convince us how much safer it is in Afghanistan lately even though United Nations assessments are not as optimistic!

The Conservative Government of Canada is determined to continue with their war in Afghanistan and that is all that there is to it! They will even lie in their attempt to try and convince Canadians that we should continue fighting.

Mooner - you phrased your question like the right winger you are, "why you are so against Canadian troops in Afganistan"?

I am 'against' the Conservative Party's concept of 'perpetual war' for economic purposes. The history of Afghanistan is that the entire British military and the entire Soviet military were BOTH unsuccessful in Afghanistan. Our current little mission there will be similarly a military failure. I have been advocating for a year and a half what Karzai is NOW doing (and what the AMERICANS have come to agree with) - we need to find a way to bring order to this bizarre nation of war lords, drug smugglers and Taliban. Canada's little troop will not 'win' in Afghanistan.

But as a Conservative supporter and a right winger, I would never expect that you will be able to understand that. Your black and white view of the world is too simplistic to understand complex military issues. Hence the way you tried to frame the question that I am - in some way - 'against Canadian troops'.

Mooner is typical of the right-wingers - avoid the fact a Conservative Minister is lying thru his teeth about how safe it is or it isn't in Afghanistan, and try to throw out a red herring about why someone is against the troops.. as if pointing out a Conservative Minister's fibs is somehow anti-troops.

Leftdog and Scott.....understand one thing..I'm not crazy about our men and women being in Afganistan....I personnally think it's a lost cause.....the Middle East as a whole has been at war for 6,000 years and it will continue for another 6,0000....fuled by centuries of hate and religious fanatasism. The only thing that will stop it is what happend to Japan in 1945. When the "bang" is big enough you will get their attention!

What I am trying to understand is this... where do the NDP and followers stand when it comes to our military.

Say the NDP came to power in Canada...what is the plan for the military?? Would we have one?? If we did what would they do??

If Canda was threatend in any way would the NDP resort to use of the military?? Say we were attacked in some form or another would the NDP respond with the military??

I'm just trying to figure out if you people could be counted on to defend what we have established over the years from the sacrifice of others.

These questions remind me of my old adversary, David Maclean. Same type of right wing - tongue in cheek game playing.

Put first of all I find anyone who suggests nuclear attack as a solution to any political problem to be very offensive. Such a callous disregard for human life (mothers, infants, grandmothers, toddlers) is stunning.!

Under a New Democrat administration we would have a peace time army. Now that the cold war is over, the biggest challenge to peace and security is the unresolved situation in the Middle East - which can be fixed by way of diplomacy.

If Canada were attacked or invaded some similar to our WW2 response would be taken to defend the country. The current problems with Al Qaeda is challenging because it is impossible for a traditional 'army in the field' to defeat a civilian insurgent (guerrilla force) - just ask the Americans how well they did in Vietnam AND how well they are doing in Iraq.

Unlike conservative types, New Democrats VALUE our peacekeeping role of the 1950's and onward. Canadians saved numerous lives by our role in Cyprus, Suez, and other hot spots.

We do not subscribe to the type of militarism that is currently happening from the Americans - even though Harper would like to emulate that. The fact that the US DOES NOTHING to resolve the Palestinian problem (which has allowed over a million individuals to live in Refugee camps since 1949) the problems in the region continue.

You used to post here as 'Mooner' with a capital 'M', now it is lower case - you must have forgotten your old password.

dog...can you please name the last time peacekeeping worked. It didnt work in the former Yugoslavia..NATO had to start bombing. It didnt work in Rwanda. Its not working in darfur. Its not working in Lebanon. Why the attachment to something that doesn't work? News flash: Peacekeeping only worked for us in the Suez because we still had international clout left over from WW2.

Everybody but Dion, Layton and the Center for Policy Alternatives knows that peacekeeping simply doesn't work. It could only work in the cold war....the Sovs and yanks MADE it work, to prevent escalation. The threat of nuclear annihilation is no longer there.

the killing in bosnia only stopped when NATO began a bombing campaign...not because we were standing between the two sides LOL. And Yugoslavia was not traditional peacekeeping...Canada came armed to the teeth and even fought battles. Our allies who showed up lightly armed and unwilling to intervene ended up embarrassing themselves and getting more civilians killed...ala the dutch. And we still had to fight a WAR in 99' to prevent another genoicide in Kosovo. OOOOOO peacekeeping really worked and stopped those pesky serbs! You are delusional...read your history books, not the toronto star.

I see that in darfur a large score of peacekeepers were recently murdered. Don't you think dog, that if the UN was to get off its CORRUPT LAZY ASS and do something...wouldnt the Americans have to pacify these armed warbands with military force?

Rwanda got out of hand because the UN is worthless and doesn't give two shits about black Africa.

And you didnt mention the fact that in Lebanon, UN forces don't even BOTHER to enforce their mandate. Once again you have to proven to me that you only see the world through NDP press releases.

And I AM NOT right wing. I believe in a welfare state, legalization of most drugs, etc. I just look forward to a world where the West uses its overwhelming economic and military might to rid this planet of scum like Hussein, Kim Jong, and Mugabe. I dont believe in nationalities- I've spent a significant portion of my life travelling and I consider myself a human fucking being- not some passport.

You, on the other hand..vote...which makes you even more delusional in my eyes.

Phil here is the BIGGEST attracting story I have ever had on Buckdog - this post still brings in about lots and lots of hits a day months after I first posted it. I have considered switching my format from politics to fish!